Providence of A Sparrow: Lessons from a Life Gone to the Birds [Hardcover]

George C Chester (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 3, 2002

In the years since Chris Chester and his wife Rebecca rescued a featherless baby bird—a creature with all the initial appeal of "a testicle with a beak" —they’ve had plenty of time to consider and reconsider their eccentric lifestyle. The upstairs floor of their home in Portland has become an indoor aviary. There is B’s room, which he shares with a varying number of finches; the canary room; and the room housing the three subsequent foundling sparrows they’ve adopted: Baby, Pee Wee, and Seven. There are screen doors mounted in the doorways, congruent with "the Appalachian-themed decor." They’ve learned sparrow games like "War Bird," "Love Bird," and "Hit the Cap." Since the birds’ bedtime rituals alone take an hour or more each night, the couple’s social life has suffered a decline.

But along the way the Chesters have also learned a great deal about the natural history of birds, and even more about that maligned avian species, the House Sparrow. And with this knowledge has come gratitude. For it is through B and the rest of this unorthodox family that Chester has discovered a renewed capacity for joy and wonder and an expanded realization of the consciousness and intelligence in living things. A book filled with acerb wit, frequent references to literature both high and low, and genuine reverence for the life around him, Providence of a Sparrow is Chris Chester’s beautiful meditation on life with B.

 

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In this heartfelt, warm, and entertaining memoir, Chester describes in minute detail the changes that a tiny English sparrow has imposed on his living quarters, his daily routine, and, most significantly, his emotional life. Found as a featherless baby that looked like "a testicle with a beak attached," the sparrow is named "B." Quickly, the daily routines of Chester and his wife come to revolve around their new roommate and two subsequent boarders, bonded male finches. Their upstairs floor is turned into an aviary, and the couple often plays sparrow games. Chester's turns of phrase are colorful, humorous, and memorable, as when he describes the relationship of the sparrows as an example of "homofinchiality." Highly literate and filled with personal ruminations, avian research, and literary allusions, Chester's writing style sets this book apart from other animal memoirs and recommends it for an audience with above average reading skills. Suitable for large public libraries and academic libraries with natural history or animal behavior collections.
Cleo Pappas, La Grange Memorial Hosp. Lib., IL
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Chester offers us a curiosity, a contemplation, a substantive diversion into the providence of a remarkable creature named B. If Thoreau had not gone to the woods, but had instead invited a sparrow into his house, he might have written this book instead of Walden."—Ron Carlson, author of At the Jim Bridger: Stories
 

"Providence of a Sparrow is a charming and touching memoir, a welcome addition to the venerable literature treating the love between animals and people. At the same time, it is a thoughtful look at the study of consciousness and the search for meaning in life, and its rational approach will appeal to even the skeptical non-bird-lover."—Alison Baker, author of Loving Wanda Beaver: Novella and Stories

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: University of Utah Press; 1st Edition edition (September 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874807425
• ISBN-13: 978-0874807424
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,784,172 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Writer - Great Story, February 17, 2005

By 

J. Clark (Fairfax, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Providence of a Sparrow: Lessons from a Life Gone to the Birds (Paperback)

I bought this book on a lark. Typically when I do such things I go unrewarded. I am pleased to say that that this time I was rewarded. Chester is a great writer who is loony about birds, or maybe just cuckoo. Regardless, the story is very genuine and presented in a non-sappy manner which is much appreciated in our world of over-produced drivel. Whether or not you lovebirds I recommend that you swiftly go out and buy this book. Unless you are a solitaire old curmudgeon I think that you will read this and then go crowing to all of your friends about how good it is. Now excuse me while I creep back into my hole.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There's something about these birds..., December 19, 2005

By 

Julia Webber "nerd" (South Bohemia, Czech Republic) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Providence of a Sparrow: Lessons from a Life Gone to the Birds (Paperback)

I came across this book by complete chance- I didn't even know it existed until I found it staring me in the face from an endcap at the local bookstore. I was quite suprised that someone had written a book about raising house sparrows. I found my first house sparrow when I was 12 years old, and then raise 2 more that had been abandoned. My experience with the birds was strikingly similar to Mr. Chester's. He does a wonderful job in illustrating the fact that dogs and cats aren't the only animals that can be intelligent pets with personality. Most people seem to think that anyone who dotes upon a bird is a bit wierd, after all "it's only a bird." "Only", indeed.

Be aware that this book is a memoir, not a textbook. Mr. Chester does talk about himself. A lot. That's what people do in memoirs. But he certainly does include a wealth of information about sparrows in general, and his bird in particular. The reviewers who claim otherwise did not read the book (and admitted this themselves.) The book is about not just a bird and not just a man, but also the relationship between them and how this relationship made the man's life infinitely richer. "Providence of a Sparrow" shows that even "pests" and "junk birds" (as house sparrows are commonly called) have value. I hope that people who have never had a relationship with one of these birds enjoy the book as much as I did.

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Praise and defense for a wonderful book, April 3, 2005

By 

Reading Reverend (Baltimore, Md) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Providence of a Sparrow: Lessons from a Life Gone to the Birds (Paperback)

The factual inaccuracies by Jack Crenshaw in his review of this book cry out for correction. I am a retired Lutheran minister, and I have read this wise and lovely memoir twice. Once for myself and once to my wife who is legally blind. I can say in no uncertain terms that Chester is NOT an atheist -- militant or otherwise. In fact, near the end of the book, he specifically refers to himself as agnostic. Nor does he ever say or even imply that people who attend church are, in Mr. Crenshaw's words, "misguided idiots." Chester does take issue with religion being "pitched" like any other commodity. As he puts it when referring to slogans on a sign in a church parking lot near his home, "It would appear that institutions charged with maintaining the intangibles of spirit and morality feel they can no longer rely on either the depth or beauty of their core beliefs in order to remain competitive, resort instead to the expedient of vacuous catch phrases tarting up their parking lots." This sounds to me like a defense of religion, not a condemnation of it.

I must also address the previous reviewer's assertion that this book contains no information about birds. Had Mr. Crenshaw actually read the book through, which by his own admission he did not, he would have found a wealth of information about birds in general and about house sparrows in particular. And yes, there is a good bit about Chester's life, but why shouldn't there be? "Providence of a Sparrow" is, after all, the story of a deep and tender relationship which develops between a man and a sparrow. The book couldn't very well be a tale of a relationship unless both of the principal players were described. I sincerely believe that Chester does this in a balanced and thoughtful way. By the end of the book, I felt that I knew man and bird as well as I know my closest friends.

But perhaps Mr. Crenshaw's most troubling inaccuracy is his suggestion that Chester doesn't love birds. Anyone who comes away from this book with that impression doesn't, in my opinion, know what love is. Perhaps a blurb on the inside cover by George Archibald, cofounder of the International Crane Foundation, says it best: "Chester is a role model to be emulated by others who work with birds . . . His extraordinary sensitivity to a few common captive house sparrows reveals how much we humans can learn about the needs and actions of our feathered friends. The book is a delight."